Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie immigrated to the US at age 12 from Scotland Alongside his family, he found employment at a cotton mill and later a factory. As an adult, Andrew worked as an operator and later as the superintendent and helped manage a railroad company.

With the money he saved from working and on the advice of others, Carnegie successfully invested in certain railroad companies. Later, he invested in the manufacturing of steel and other goods that were highly in demand around the time of the Civil War.

Following the Civil War, Carnegie transitioned from railroad work to investing in ironworks, developing several ironworks and utilizing his connections with railroad companies to sell his product. He leveraged the relationships he had cultivated over time and his bonds with individuals in similar fields to his benefit.

Carnegie continued to work in the steel production business for several years, eventually becoming fabulously wealthy and considering retirement at the age of 65. Besides his wealth, people also know him for his love of philanthropy.

In 1889, Carnegie published a book titled “The Gospel of Wealth,” where he argued that businessmen should do two things: acquire as much wealth as possible through their work and then distribute it charitably to improve the lives of others.

Carnegie was not a hypocrite to his novel from the year 1901 forward he spent most of his remaining life making donations to education and building libraries in English-speaking countries and made foundations for grants and donated to universities and was a patron to the arts of music.

Carnegie is an example of a Prophets seeking businessman in the Gilded Age, a time period known for lavish spending and wide wealth inequality, who dedicated much of his life to the act of charity.